Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta pulled a surprise last week.
The Gunners thumped Dundalk 3-0 in Europa League action and Arteta brought young striker Folarin Balogun off the bench for his senior debut.
Fans of the North London club had been calling on the 19-year-old t0 be given a chance for quite a long time, on the back of his goal-laden form at Under-23 level.
And although Emile Smith Rowe – who has two Premier League appearances under his belt – has played for Arsenal quite a few times, tonight could reportedly be his debut under the Spaniard.
According to The Daily Star, Arteta could use the 20-year-old playmaker in tonight’s visit of Molde to the Emirates Stadium.
Smith Rowe spent the second half of last season on loan at Huddersfield Town and the Arsenal boss said in July that he was very ‘excited’ to work with him [Sky Sports].
But injury meant that the London Colney academy graduate wasn’t available until now and it’ll be interesting to see if Arteta uses him.
Let’s face it, Arsenal need a creative spark after leaving Mesut Ozil out of the squad and maybe, just maybe, Smith Rowe can provide it.
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